Anyone who follows the Philadelphia Phillies on
the radio (locally, that's 1400 AM or 95.3 FM) knows that Larry Andersen speaks
his mind. Andersen, who spent 17 years in the majors as a reliever, is in
his 16th season in the broadcast booth with the Phillies. Andersen shared his
observations on the Phillies in a phone conversation before tonight's game
with the St. Louis Cardinals. Here is that conversation:

Q: What are your impressions so far? What do you see that
impresses you the most, and what is your biggest concern with this team?

View full sizeOnce slugger Ryan Howard gets hot at the plate, some of the Phillies' offensive woes will be alleviated, according to radio analyst Larry Andersen.

A: There's not a whole lot that's impressed me so far. I
thought the offense would be better than it its right now. I thought the
starting pitching would be better than it is right now, and I thought the bullpen
would be better than it is right now.

They're not where I thought they would be; I thought they
would be in a better place. I think they're better than that.

Domonic Brown, I was impressed with him in the spring. I was
impressed with our offense completely in spring training. What happened, I have
no idea. I'm not seeing the same approach. I'm seeing a lot more swinging at
pitches out of the zone; I'm not seeing any power.

I was really excited coming out of spring training. Do I think
they're going to be this way all season? No.

Part of it is Ryan Howard. He's not swinging the bat right
now. He's not tracking the ball. It's almost like he's guessing at pitches.
Domonic Brown, the same thing. He was hitting everything in the spring.

Q: What do you think needs to happen?

A: I think it just takes a couple of games where everyone
gets going. Confidence plays a lot into it.

A lot of depends on Howard and Jimmy [Rollins] at the top of
the lineup. I think putting Jimmy back at the top of the lineup would help.
He's comfortable being there. Pitching, it's getting guys out on a consistent
basis. It's just mainly getting the big guys back on course, back on line with
what they've done in the past.

Q: How important is it for this team to have a healthy Chase
Utley, both in the lineup and locker room? He seems to be a real leader.

A: He's not a vocal guy. He keeps more to himself. If he has
something to say to a player, I'm sure he does, but he's not a talker.

What he does is he plays the game the right way every day.
Now, I'm not saying he won't strike out three times in a game or make three errors;
I'm not saying he's flawless.

But he plays the game right way. He brings the attitude to
the field; he leads by example. I think it's great for the younger guys to
watch Utley play and lead that way.

It's so important to me, he plays the game the right way.

I don't think it's instinct; he just made up his mind to
play the game the right way. Honestly I can't say that about every player.

Q: I don't expect you to name names, but I know by
listening to you on the radio that playing the game the right way is important
to you.

A: Well, you can tell just by watching. And it's not
specific to this club. A lot of players around this league play right, a lot don't.
That's the frustrating thing. It's easy for me to say; I wasn't an everyday
player. But as a reliever I had to be ready every day. Just being ready, doing
things the right way, especially with the younger guys. A couple of years ago, Domonic
Brown was taken out of the game and sat down for not running out a ground ball.
That's not from watching Utley.

Now, Michael Young plays the game the right way. You need
some of those guys to show the younger guys how it's done. I think this team
needs a voice in that locker room. Michael Young is new, but he has that voice,
that leadership in a positive way.

Q: So there's still a lot of time to fix this yet?

A: Oh, absolutely. You get them on the same page, you still
have a chance. There's no doubt in my mind that this team can get in the playoffs. I'm not
saying that they're going to win a division or not [now], especially the way
Atlanta's playing. But they're digging themselves a hole.

Q: Can you assess the pitching?

A: Roy Halladay is looking like he's getting back and comfortable.
Cole Hamels looked better in his last start, and Kyle Kendrick's giving you a
chance to win every game.

Q: When Kyle Kendrick gives you eight shutout innings like
he did the other night (in a 1-0 loss at Cincinnati), don't you have to win
that game?

A: Definitely. That's been frustrating. We've had a lot of
good pitching, but we have not scored. We didn't have a walk for four games,
almost 40 innings without an unintentional walk. How is that possible?

Q: There are walks to be had?

A: Absolutely. The other day Ryan Howard was asked about it.
He said the hitting coaches want them to be more aggressive. I'm fine with
that, but not overly aggressive. They want to be aggressive, but opposing pitchers
are going into the fifth inning with just 45 pitches. We're not working the
count at all. That's frustrating.

Q: Do you think Rollins at the top of the lineup could help?
He's not exactly a guy who works the count, but he might do that better than
Ben Revere, who doesn't take many walks.

A: I don't think he's going to work the count more. Jimmy at
the top, he's got the pop. He has gap power, he has home-run power at times. I
like him at the top. With Ben Revere, moving him down because he doesn't walk,
he'd be better served in the lineup.

Q: Do you think Roy Halladay found something in his last two
starts?

A: Last year with his bad shoulder, I think he got into bad
habits. He dropped his shoulder way down. I think he's back on top of the ball
with his shoulder. Three starts ago, it almost was like he was sacrificing
command for velocity, giving up command. With all the talk about velocity, I
think he was almost trying to force it. That put his command off.

Last night, he was more comfortable with where he was. And
he was using his sinker more.

During the broadcast, Scott [Franzke] and I noticed he threw
three pitches in a row that were 92 [mph]. That alone has got to make him feel
better. And he was getting good movement. I think he'll get even better, once
he gets the feel of his cutter back. Last year, he lost the command and feel of
his cutter. When he gets that back, he'll be even better than last night.

Q: There's a lot of talk about how Halladay has to reinvent
himself. Do you think that's the case?

A: Not really, but he does have to refine the way he
pitches. He used to be a first-pitch fastball or cutter [pitcher]. He'd attack the
hitter; he can't do it that way now. He has to be a little more fine in the
strike zone. Anyone throwing 90-92 [mph], if he elevates it, he's going to get
hit. He's going to have to trust his stuff a little more than he might right
now. I think it's a factor of believing in it more.

I think he realizes, 'I'm not throwing it 93-94 anymore, but
I still have the stuff to get people out.' He has to use all of his repertoire
in that way. I think he's found something, certainly the last couple of times
out.

Everyone has an ego, especially Major League Baseball
players – and it's fragile. If you get hit around, I think you have to start to
question yourself. Now I'm not Roy Halladay, but I think that's natural [to
question yourself].

It's a chicken-and-egg thing – to have confidence, you have
to have success. But it's hard to have confidence if you're not successful. You
have to get back to trusting yourself.

Q: You spent 17 years in the majors, so you know that you
have to make adjustments. How hard is it for someone like Roy Halladay to do?

A: I think he's on track and healthy, and I think he will
get stronger. He won't be 94-95 [mph] again, he won't complete 10 games a year
again. But I think he can give you 7-8 innings, and nine innings on occasion. I
think his pitch count is going to be a little higher, because he's going to be
a little more fine. He's just got to absolutely trust in his stuff.

Q: John Lannan has pitched well in the fifth starter role,
but he's going to the disabled list [6-8 weeks with quad strain]. Who do you
see coming out of the minors to fill that starting role?

A: They brought up Joe Savery, who's throwing well, to help
out in the bullpen.

When we need that starter, the guy who's first to me is Adam Morgan,
the kid out of Alabama. He threw very good in spring, and he just won pitcher
of the week in the International League. I think he could come up and take over Lannan's
spot until he's back.

Q: What do you think of the bullpen? They've had some rough
patches in middle relief, and Mike Adams looked good, but now he's having
issues from his offseason surgery.

A: Mike's going to be awhile for him to get all his strength
back, to get back to where he was. He's going to be important, because the
eighth inning was such a problem last year. Having Adams pushes [Antonio]
Bastardo back to the seventh inning, or a situational lefty thing. You have
Bastardo to pitch the seventh, Adams the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon to pitch
the ninth. You push the other guys back into their roles.

Jeremy Horst and Chad Durbin have struggled at times. But I
think you have to look at their track record. Last year, Chad's first three
outings with Atlanta were terrible. But then he went on and had a great year. I
think he gets back to where he expects to be, and with what Horst did last
year, you go back to the track record and think they are going to be better.

I think with the bullpen, when you have that defined role,
any reliever will tell you it's easier.

Q: What's it like working with [play-by-play man] Scott
Franzke?

A: Working with Franzke? It's not fun, not fun at all. He just
walked out, so I had to get that in.

I think we have a good rapport. We are friends off the
field. We golf together, have lunch together. When you have that friendship off
the field, it makes it much more cohesive, you have that banter back and forth.
When you work with someone you don't get along with, you're just trying to get
through the game.

If it's a close game, it takes care of itself. If it gets
out of hand, that's where the banter comes in.

Q: You can tell you have a lot of fun on the air. I remember
a spring training game where you talked about your new vacuum cleaner for an
inning. You two can talk about anything, it seems.

A: Ah, the vacuum cleaner. I get a lot of heat about that. I
say I like to vacuum. More than anything, it's shock value – you say you like
to iron, you like to vacuum, and people can't believe it. I don't know if it's
a kind of therapy or what, but I do like to vacuum and iron.

Q: You'll make someone a good wife someday.

A: (Laughs) Thanks!

Q: Working with Harry Kalas all those years, you must have
so many stories. Can you share your favorite Harry Kalas story?

A: One thing people didn't realize about Harry was how funny
he was, but it was a dry, subtle humor.

Some of the stories I can't repeat, but here's one. We had a
flight from Philly to Denver. We got on the plane, boarded it, and then air
traffic control said we had a three-hour wait because of weather. Harry and I sat in the back of the plane at
that time. We had a few adult beverages, and after about an hour and a half, two
hours, Harry went to sleep. So, about 15 or 20 minutes before we actually take
off, he wakes up. Harry would call me "Breakdown.'' So he wakes up, looks at me
and says, "Breakdown, pretty smooth so far!''

Then there was the time when he got his first cell phone.
Scott Graham was with us then. We were in spring training, and we had a game at Fort Myers the next day, and Scott called Harry to say when we'd be
picking him up.

Scott got Harry's voicemail, and he said, "Harry, Scott
here. I hope you can get your messages. We're leaving at 8:45 tomorrow
morning.'' About 30 seconds later, Harry calls, and Scotty puts in on speaker.
With that HK voice you hear, "Scott, HK here. As a matter of fact, I DO know
how to work voicemail. I just don't know how to answer the damn thing!''

He was so outgoing and so receptive to any request from the
fans. He was just a beautiful person.

Q: You must love what you do.

A: Absolutely. I've become so much of a fan sometimes – I
don't want to be a homer. I want the Phils to win, not for the organization but
for the fans of the city. And I don't mean just the city – I mean the fans in Harrisburg
down to Wilmington, anywhere there's Phillies fans. They're so passionate. They
support the team in good or bad. Whether they boo or cheer, they're out there.

I heard some players say they can't stand playing in Philly.
I tell them they're crazy. I've played in the Kingdome in Seattle, where I'm
from, and there would be 3,000 people in the stands. Or you go to San Diego,
where there's 12,00 people in the stands, but 8,000 of them are playing with
beach balls.

The fans here want to see the game, they want to see their
Phils win. The joy in me seeing this team win is for the fans.